Protester at Berkeley post office camp-in stabbed in thigh

Violence broke out on Thursday at the protest against the closure of the main post office on Allston Way. Photo: Eden Teller

Berkeley police arrested a 50-year old man Thursday who punched and stabbed some of the protesters camped on the steps of the Berkeley Post Office on Allston Way.

Cassius Scott Wilson was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and probation violation, according to Capt. Erik Upson of the Berkeley Police Department.

Around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 15, Wilson, known as “Scott” to those involved in the protest against the closure of the post office, allegedly stole an iPhone from one of the tents at the encampment, according to a press release.

When a woman from the Berkeley Post Office Defense group asked to borrow the phone, Scott allegedly slapped her, according to the press release. He was agitated and expressed a desire to return to the tents. (Capt. Upson said Scott may have been one of the protesters but he did not know for sure.) The other protesters confronted Scott and told him to leave the area. Scott began to yell, then picked up a chair and a pipe and threw them at those confronting him.

Scott then ran away and a few protesters chased him up Allston Way to Shattuck Avenue and then to the area of Western Dental near Berkeley Square. Scott then grabbed one of the protesters by the arm and allegedly stabbed him in the thigh. Berkeley paramedics took the victim to Highland Hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. The weapon was not recovered.